What could be done to help those like him (Cho)?

[denverdoc]

Thats maybe where Brady should be expanded, anyone ever put on an involuntary detention should be on the list. Let there be measures and means to challenge...but better to be safe than sorry. What the judge is saying, had she placed the involuntary detention order, it woulkd have been. My guess is something like of all the involuntatry commitments i have seen in a variety of settings, less than 5 percent come from the court.

 

[Astronuc]

Questions Keep Coming for Va. Tech Officials
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9709426

Laws Limit Options When a Student Is Mentally Ill
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/19/us/19protocol.html?em&ex=1177214400&en=9e52d5f9ec8197b9&ei=5087

Federal privacy and antidiscrimination laws restrict how universities can deal with students who have mental health problems.

For the most part, universities cannot tell parents about their children’s problems without the student’s consent. They cannot release any information in a student’s medical record without consent. And they cannot put students on involuntary medical leave, just because they develop a serious mental illness.

Nor is knowing when to worry about student behavior, and what action to take, always so clear.

“They can’t really kick someone out because they’re writing papers about weird topics, even if they seem withdrawn and hostile,” said Dr. Richard Kadison, chief of mental health services at Harvard University. “Most state laws are pretty clear: you can only bring students to hospitals if there is imminent risk to themselves or someone else, so universities are in a bit of a bind that way.”

Office for Civil Rights - HIPAA
Medical Privacy - National Standards to Protect the Privacy of Personal Health Information
http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIPAA

 

[Zenparticle]

Seems to me the key would be to have an a active involved family and friends. No one can tell you what the future holds so saying something like this is preventable is impossible- tho if he had a family who cared or friends who cared who could see the mental illness destroying him someone would have made him get help- Maybe they should do mandatory psychological testing on everyone to screen for hi risk people as well as background and family checks, but even with that there would still be those who slip through the system.

 

[mathwonk]

probably the biggest favor we could have done him wOULD BE to deny him a fast loading handgun.

 

[JasonRox]

probably the biggest favor we could have done him wOULD BE to deny him a fast loading handgun.

He has the right to be armed, so that will never happen.

 

[Astronuc]

He (Cho) has the right to be armed

May be not!

The Federal Gun Control Act, ever since 1968, has prohibited the possession by a person or the sale to a person who is what they call mentally defective. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms wrote a regulation, and that regulation says that that category includes a person who has been found by some kind of official body to be a danger to himself or others.

Cho was found to be a danger to himself or others when he was brought before a magistrate. The magistrate had the option to commit him but found that less restrictive treatment, the outpatient treatment, would be sufficient. Yet even though he wasn't committed, that's sufficient under federal law to bar him for the rest of his life from ever possessing a firearm.

And, in fact, there's a case from the federal district court of Michigan, U.S. v. Vertz, that finds exactly that, that, in a very similar situation, the Federal Gun Control Act did apply and prohibited the person from having a gun.

Now, clearly it would be very helpful if these regulations were better known and disseminated more broadly to the mental health community and to the judges and magistrates who may make these commitments or determinations about a person's danger so that this information does get reported.

Shooter's Purchase of Handguns Raises Questions About Gun Control Laws
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/jan-june07/guncontrol_04-20.html
Virginia Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho's ability to purchase two handguns despite a history of mental illness has raised questions about American gun control laws. Gun control and gun rights advocates discuss the regulations for background checks.

When a person is found to be irresponsible or a danger to him or herself, then the legal system is allowed to deprive that person of certain rights, and more so privileges. For example, a person convicted of drunk driving may have the privilege of driving suspended - but at the discretion of the judge or magistrate. There have been numerous cases where drunk drivers have caused fatal accidents, and one finds that they have had numerous arrests and convictions for DUI. Fortunately, it is less likely now than 2 or 3 decades ago, but it still happens. Sometimes, perhaps often, the legal system is inconsistent.

 

[Zenparticle]

It sure would have helped him to have socialzed more.. But guessing that he couldn't do becuase of his reclusiveness.

Mental Illness in the form of schizophrenia ,often does not show up until right before puberty; when the brain goes through a major change chemically/physically- it happens to everyone, but for those with schizophrenia it means that while their brains were developing something was missing some protein(or something like that) so it is a degenerate brain disease as well as a disorder. They have to take they're medication loyally but its a known fact they will usually begin to feel that they don't need their Medication, stop taking and suffer psychosis of which they could remain permanently. so socialization would have helped but not really prevented

 

[usahockey]

In many states, you are not allowed to purchase any firearm if you've been admitted to any mental health facility within the last few years or so. This would have made it so that Cho could not have purchased a weapon. Still, when a person like this snaps, they would probably find some other way. (simply breaking into anyone of the thousands of gun owner's homes in VA and steal weapons)

They're saying that he even had a "hitlist" of students made out in middle school, and was also made fun of in high school for being a potential "school shooter". It sounds like this guy was developing his ways long before this recent breaking point. The family says they had no idea, I don't buy it...not if he was caught with a "hitlist" in middle school.

 

[Mallignamius]

Controlling his access to weapons would not have mattered. When the rage is boiling, an angry person who wants to kill will find a way. If not guns, then knives, gasoline, homemade explosives, chemical/biological nasties... Lots of information on the Internet, too.

Mental illness or not, when we are bullied we get angry and want to strike back. That bullying is so often ignored by students and staff can only lead us into these dark moments.